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Kellianne Murphy – known as Sweet Kellianne by some – has an instinctive nature to entertain coupled with an intent to make you smile.
One Christmas, she wanted to clear the air after a heated argument between her brother and father.
"I decided I would be Santa, but didn’t have the outfit," the former resident of the 2400 block of Orkney Street said.
Instead, Murphy wrapped her legs in red wrapping paper, put on her Philadelphia Phillies jacket and wore T-shirts around her ears to mimic a beard. Her pillowcase became Santa’s toy bag.
Belting out a few "ho-ho-hos," Murphy had her family in stitches.
The performer admits to providing some sunshine during rough patches in her family’s life: her grandfather died two months before she was born and her grandmother lost both legs to diabetes thereafter.
"As soon as I could walk and talk … I basically felt that I was there to entertain everyone and laugh because things were kind of glum."
Today, with the same creativity and bubbly persona, her mindset is not much different.
Murphy has combined two of her passions – food and hilarity – into "Sweet Kellianne’s Whip It! A One Woman Cookin’ Show." The performance makes its Philadelphia debut this month at the Society Hill Playhouse’s Red Room Cabaret, 507 S. Eighth St.
She admits her early-childhood performances prepped her for the show, which had a run in Los Angeles. Inside a neighbor’s house, she would create sets, decide the music, choreograph the numbers and create advertisements for renditions of Shirley Temple movies and "Grease."
The best part? Her friend’s mother would treat the talented lassies to dessert.
"It’s actually a little weird that nothing has changed," Murphy, who resides in Los Angeles, said. "I’m still putting my sets together. I’m still putting up my flyers."
"Whip It!" incorporates Murphy’s autobiographical stories that segue into the creation of recipes she promises will tantalize the audience. Some of her stories relate to the food she is cooking, while others do not. Murphy said the show has sexy overtones without being overtly sexual. (But, she said, leave the kiddies at home.) One of her on-stage dishes, for example, is Let’s Play Doctor Cake.
"I’m not presenting myself as a centerfold or sex kitten," she said. "I’m more like this Philly girl next door who isn’t afraid to be daring."
Her life’s journey has brought Murphy to unique places and in the company of extraordinary people. With this new venture, things have fallen into place, the 32-year-old said.
"Everything happens for a reason and, [through the show], I found some way to tie everything together," she said. "It is an amazing feeling."
WHAT BETTER ROLE model to have as a teen during the ’80s than the Mother of Reinvention – Madonna? That was Murphy’s mentality and she got the chance to witness the star in action.
After moving with her family to Los Angeles in 1989, Murphy’s father opened a dance studio. The Material Girl rented space inside the facility to rehearse for an upcoming tour.
Murphy tried her best to be a "wallflower" in Madonna’s presence, but had difficulty.
"I just have to act like I don’t care even though I’m 14 years old and my idol is standing next to me," Murphy told herself at the time.
She watched in awe as Madonna monitored her dancers – and all aspects of the rehearsal – with attentive eyes.
"She worked really, really hard," Murphy said. "It was much more than being a performer. It was being a businesswoman. That really had an effect on me."
Though having a passion for dance, Murphy enrolled in acting classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory at 15, lying about her age to get in the door.
At 18, she took the words of her acting coach to heart: "Never pick a profession that you don’t feel that you would die if you didn’t get to do it."
Noting "there were so many things in life I want to do," Murphy left the classes and embarked on a 10-year journey of self-discovery. She traveled through Europe and resided in Boston, London and New Orleans.
"At 26, I decided I needed to have something to fall back on," said Murphy, who decided photography was the next step.
Moving back to Los Angeles, she scored a job with a photographer, but learned "how little photography there is involved with photography and how much business is involved in photography."
She soon decided to create a cookbook – titled "Whip It!" – for her friends and family. The book included desserts with goofy titles, but Murphy began writing short stories to accompany those titles. She photographed the food while using her own recipes and others that she had acquired throughout her life.
"I give everything cheeky names because, growing up, when my mother would try to get us to eat something, she would give it funny names," she said.
Murphy was lured back to the spotlight when a "friend of a friend" asked if she ever considered turning the cookbook into a show.
First dismissing the idea, Murphy created one act two days later. She later secured a spot at the Stella Adler Theater to showcase the finished product.
A nervous wreck before the debut performance, thoughts such as "How did I get here?" and "What if they don’t like it?" raced through her mind.
But, as soon as the audience roared during her second line, Murphy was at ease.
"As soon as that laughter hits, I was relaxed," she said. "I’m still the same way. As soon as that wall of laughter hits me, I’m so at ease. I can go in different directions. I can improvise."
She performed "Whip It!" for two years in Los Angeles. Bringing the show to Philadelphia, Murphy hopes to lure audiences with a blend of autobiographical stories and some in-the-kitchen fun.
One of her anecdotes includes memories of shopping on Ninth Street.
Going to buy clothes on Ninth Street "was like my mother saying to me ‘we’re going to Neiman-Marcus to buy a new outfit,’" she said.
Murphy is working on a follow-up to her show, as well as well as a book of short stories. She is happy to be back in her hometown and the "precious little moments" that made her the person she is today.
"I wouldn’t want to be from any place else," she said.
"Sweet Kellianne’s Whip It! A One Woman Cookin’ Show" is at the Society Hill Playhouse’s Red Room Cabaret Feb. 3 to 19. To purchase tickets, call 215-923-0210.
